Sly Stone

[Pete Finney]

Hands down one of the 2 or 3 most memorable concerts of a lifetime; Sly and the Family Stone outside in the summer of 1969, a month before Woodstock (I was 13). A sadly troubled genius without a doubt, but he sure left the world a much better place.

RIP Sylvester Stewart

[HowardR]

Sly & The Family Stone and Creedence Clearwater Revival were the two most exciting, foot stompin' bands at Woodstock IMO......RIP Sly Stewart.......

[Bill McCloskey]

ah.. sad to read but what a waste of talent.

My favorite memory of him was when he was on the Mike Douglas show and Richard Pryor was playing drums behind him. He took one look at Richard and just got up and walked off stage. Pryor was yelling "you can't fire me on national TV, sucker!". Hysterical.

Actually I found the clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nbKIngibEI

[Jack Stanton]

Wow!!! One for the records. Mike Douglas wasn't afraid to let anything happen on his show.

[Dennis Belt]

An incredible talent. He lived his life on his own terms. Unfortunately, his terms were coloured by mental illness and drugs.
I saw him live, sort of, one time. He was hours late. He came out, played part of one song, complained about his organ and walked off stage. The band kept playing for a while, hoping he would come back, but no dice. The very large crowd was pretty angry.
I really liked him. I wish I had a better memory to share. I hope he finds some peace.
Funk on, Sly

[Mike Neer]

My all-time musical hero. RIP

[Mark Eaton]

An incredible talent. He lived his life on his own terms. Unfortunately, his terms were coloured by mental illness and drugs.
I saw him live, sort of, one time. He was hours late. He came out, played part of one song, complained about his organ and walked off stage. The band kept playing for a while, hoping he would come back, but no dice. The very large crowd was pretty angry.
I really liked him. I wish I had a better memory to share. I hope he finds some peace.
Funk on, Sly

Was this at The Luther Burbank Center in Santa Rosa? The time when he skipped out and the promoter and Sly were in a car chase down the main drag (Mendocino Ave.) because Sly had already gotten paid for the concert?

[Dennis Belt]

Mark, it wasn’t that show; that sounds like prime Sly.
The one I saw Sly was headlining a huge concert at the LA Coliseum; probably 50k people.
This was at the height of his popularity, so most people were there to see Sly.

[Fred Treece]

My older brother found this clip from an Ed Sullivan show. What an incredible band! RIP, Sly.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WG_xmmllf ... gAo7VqN5tD

[Dave Mudgett]

Absolutely one of the greats. Only time I ever saw Sly and the Family Stone (with Wilson Pickett) was in either late August or early September 1969, after Woodstock, at the last Summerthing Concert of the year at Harvard Stadium in Allston/Brighton (Boston). I know it was after Woodstock, and the publicity from their Woodstock show insured a massive crowd. There was some fighting going on in the crowd, as became common at these Summerthing concerts through the next year - I was at most of them. But Sly & Co, and Pickett, were great. Unbelievable energy. There are a bunch of photos around from this show. RIP Sly.